Whaley joined the team as assistant general manager in 2010 and was later hired as general manager in 2013 after Buddy Nix stepped down following that year’s draft. In Whaley’s four seasons as general manager, the team finished 30-34 and had just one winning season (2014). Continue reading →

The Browns jumped back into the first round late on Thursday night, trading with Green Bay to receive pick No. 29 and select Miami tight end David Njoku.

Cleveland traded the 33rd and 108th selections to move up to 29.

Njoku is a player who is just scratching the surface of his potential. The tight end began to find success as a redshirt freshman before exploding in 2016, catching 43 passes for 698 yards and eight touchdowns for the Hurricanes. Continue reading →

Now comes the question of how Peterson will fit in a Saints offense that saw Ingram carry the load on the ground, but also included some carries for the since-departed Tim Hightower. Head coach Sean Payton offered some clarity, as Peterson looks to fit as the butter to Ingram’s toast. Continue reading →

“Martavis Bryant has followed the protocol and has been conditionally reinstated by the National Football League,” steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said in a statement released by the team Tuesday. “We appreciate that he has taken the necessary steps in an effort to get his personal life in order. We also understand this is just the beginning as he works to return to the team and meet all of the conditions of his reinstatement.

“We look forward to working with Martavis to ensure that he is mentally and physically prepared to contribute to our efforts on the field, while also maintaining the proper balance to keep his life in order off the field.” Continue reading →

One can point to a stat line for a season and make a general, opinionated observation about most skilled position players. They’re not always correct, but they’re usually in the ballpark. It’s not that simple with linemen, though.

Statistics (really, a lack thereof) make it difficult to predict which linemen are going to improve from year to year. Luckily, for the sake of this space, we’ve considered some other important factors — teammates, fit, specific position, experience — to come up with a small group of linemen who are poised to have impressive seasons in 2017. Continue reading →

A product of Virginia Tech, Thomas saw his most significant professional playing time as an Arizona Cardinal, appearing in two games and attempting just nine passes. His lone career completion was an 81-yard touchdown pass to Andre Ellington in a 41-20 loss to Denver in 2014. Safe to say, quarterback wasn’t exactly in the cards for Thomas.

The position switch isn’t the first of its kind. Terrelle Pryor went from quarterback to wide receiver, and posted a 1,000-yard receiving season in 2016. A closer comparison would be Dolphins tight end MarQueis Gray, who played quarterback at the University of Minnesota and switched to an H-back/tight end role upon entering the league as an undrafted free agent. Gray also played tight end with the Bills between the end of 2014 and first half of 2015.

The two are also comparable in size, with Gray listed at 6-foot-4, 255 pounds, and Thomas at 6-foot-6, 250 pounds. Both are athletic and were bigger quarterbacks who could move, though it’s unknown how well Thomas can catch the ball (to his credit, he caught two passes for 11 yards and a touchdown in his career at Virginia Tech, where he also once backed up current Bills starter Tyrod Taylor). It sounds as though the former Hokie is doing well with the mental transition, at least.

“I had to learn a completely different set of ideals, a completely different verbiage, but it’s going very smoothly,” Thomas said, via the team’s site. “Thankfully going from quarterback to tight end is a lot easier than going from tight end to quarterback.”

Buffalo is installing a new offense with the arrival of coordinator Rick Dennison, so it’s not like Thomas is behind in learning the system.

We’ve heard plenty to the contrary, but according to Dak Prescott, things are gravy between he and Tony Romo.

The successor to Romo said as much on Saturday.

“Me and Tony, we’ve always been great throughout this whole situation, before the situation when I came in (as the starter),” Prescott said Saturday in Arlington, per the team’s website. “So nothing’s ever changed. That’s something I’m very thankful were able to manage of keeping our relationship the same throughout everything that was going on. Continue reading →

Free agency started with a bang everywhere but in Washington, where the Redskins parted ways with their general manager on the first day of the new league year.

Scot McCloughan’s departure served as the beginning of a new, albeit clunky era in personnel decision-making in Washington. It also came with rumors of internal conflict between he and Bruce Allen and general dislike for the former.